|
Young World
All eyes on the egg
COMPILED BY R.KRITHIKA
Photo: AP
PRECIOUS EGG: At the Sierra San Pedrode Martir National Park.
There's a chance that the giant of the skies may make a comeback. For the first time since the 1930s, a Californian Condor has laid an egg in the Sierra San Pedro de Martir National Park. Dr. Mike Wallace from the Conservation and Research for Endangered Species, San Diego, and his colleagues who made the discovery estimated the egg to be about 45-50 days (incubation period is 57 days). Wallace also discounted the possibility of it being addled since there was no sulphurous smell and the parent birds were still caring for it. The Californian Condor was once found all over Western U.S., parts of Canada and the Baja California area of Mexico. Numbers declined due to hunting, power cables and the use of poison. Another cause was the declining numbers of seals and otters since the Condor is primarily a scavenger. By the 1980s, there were only 22 condors while in Mexico the last sighting was in the 1930s. A captive-breeding programme saw numbers move up to 280. If the Condors in Mexico hatch the egg and raise the nestling successfully, it provides a shot in the arm for attempts to introduce a breeding population in Mexico.
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Young World
|
